Food processing devices have been developed for the purpose of chopping, mashing, squeezing, and/or juicing various types of food, such as but not limited to fruits and vegetables. Food processing devices, specifically food or potato ricers, are kitchen utensils used for mashing various types of food.
Generally, a food or potato ricer includes a hopper perforated with small holes and/or a plate perforated with small holes on the base of the hopper, handles and a disc or plunger, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 343,809 and 1,885,873. Cooked food such as potatoes or other food are mashed or riced by inserting them into the hopper and extruding them through the holes with the plunger.
One important feature of food or potato ricers is the size of the holes the food to be mashed or riced is to be extruded through. A smaller hole will produce a finer extrusion setting while a larger hole will produce a coarser extrusion setting. Some food or potato ricers include a single integrated plate in the hopper, which results in a single fixed extrusion setting. Other food or potato ricers include interchangeable plates, each plate having different uniformly sized holes, that may be removed and inserted into the hopper to enable a user to mash or rice food at a desired extrusion setting. However, it can be burdensome and even messy for a user to change the plates from a first plate to a second plate, especially when the user desires one food extruded at one setting and a different food extruded at a second setting.